The year 2012 and 12 marathons by Jenny1961

Time to review the year methinks

Here goes:

1 The year started with a pb marathon in the Gloucester Marathon in January. 4 hrs and 1 minute. Curses! Oh so near to sneaking under 4 hrs but I felt sick in the last few miles and simply couldn’t  go any faster!. But oh so near.....

2  I reached the ripe old age of 50 in February.  I celebrated being so ancient by doing my first 50K Ultra ( London Ultra) . The occasion was beautifully  marked by everyone singing happy birthday to me on the start line!.

3)  I continued to bash out the miles in training and managed to run my first 50 miles in the 50 Mile Challenge in July.Yay! Being old ain’t so bad J

A  weeks after these leg bashing and muscle zapping events I entered a local 10K and miraculously achieved a pb time. And then a week later did my first Parkrun event  and achieved a pb 5K

T’was concluded that if you want to run faster- then do an ultra!

So running continued to happen but not a lot of other events. Work took over but I continued to plod to and from work, notching up the miles. The Santa Run did happen though. Great fun!

I would dearly love to strike a better balance between work and other things but teaching is just so full on at times and so draining.  That’s why it’s so important that I maintain a running schedule: without it I’d be well and truly bonkered out.

So on to the wonderful year of 2012. I can’t believe it is here!  I am feeling very positive about next year which scares me a little as there seems to be a correlation between the degree of positivity felt and the likelihood of something negative happening......

I’ve posted before about my quest to run 12 marathons next year.  I’m buzzing about that although I still haven’t sorted out all my marathons yet for the year.......

And then yesterday a facebook buddy created a group for running 2012 miles next year- and in less than 24  hours over 100 people have signed up! Crazy lot we are. But I’m looking forward to doing this as it will really help me to focus on logging my runs systematically. It works out to be about 5.5 miles per day, or 38.5 miles per week. As it were I sat down last night adorned in my anorak and pince-nez and created a spreadsheet  for the whole year. Formulae included to tot up the weekly and cumulative mileage , with even a graph chucked in for good measure.

To add to this I’m also embarking on the 100 Day Burpee challenge. Now this fills me with dread.  And fear. And a bit of loathing. But whereas I don’t find it at all difficult to motivate myself to run and train, I DO find it difficult to sustain cross training consistently. So as a few of us on facebook will also be doing this and we have to log what we are doing. I'm also going to work on my plank technique. Currently I am not at all plank-like. Oh yes- my muscles are plankier than they should be but that's the wrong kind of plank. I mean my torso- it sort of sags when I try and sustain a plank  

Christmas and Crisis- not a family crisis but volunteering for Crisis at Christmas. My daughter and myself did two 8.30 am – 4.30pm  shifts at the temporary centre in Stratford, London- Christmas Eve and Dec 27^th and I can truly say it was a worthwhile experience.  It’s not just about giving out meals but providing other services as well, like haircuts, showers, nail treatment, massage, sewing  and mending clothes and also practical advice and guidance about accommodation etc.  It was an opportunity for the ‘guest’s as they are called to feel like human beings and valued- even for a short while.  The charity Crisis works all the year round but Crisis at Christmas relies totally on volunteers. A good mix of volunteers as well from all backgrounds and ages. I even bumped into a couple with whom I’d done some cycle rides with in the past….a small world indeed

Olympics! Finally- I’m excited about something else. Months ago I applied to volunteer for the Olympics but was sadly concluding that they did not want me ( sniff sniff).  I did receive the occasional email saying they hadn’t “forgotten me”  but really thought that was it. But then 2 days ago I received an email inviting me to the next selection event on Jan 20^th!  The selection includes an interview so I’m just praying I don’t blow it. I have absolutely no idea what I’d be doing as a volunteer but quite frankly I don’t really mind. I just want to feel part of this amazing event.

So tomorrow I’ll be ending the year with a run of about 8 or 9 miles and then New Year’s Day will see me doing the first longer run of the new Year- 12-14 miles probably . I guess that will take me to week 3 of my marathon schedule as well- which, quite frankly, is a bit all over the place but never mind- order will resume once the work week begins.

So farewell 2011 ( ok, one more day to go but you get the picture). I wish you all the very best for 2012 and I hope to read of many good things happening in the running world!